Thomas & Friends leaves Sodor and lands in Canada with major new Nelvana partnership

Nelvana has just signed the paperwork to become the exclusive Canadian licensing agent for Thomas & Friends across multiple merchandise categories - minus toys - which will be manufactured and marketed by Mattel itself.

They promised he would, and Mattel have delivered. Thomas & Friends really is going global in his new look, having signed exclusive licensing and broadcast deals with Corus Entertainment in Canada.

Nelvana has just signed the paperwork to become the exclusive Canadian licensing agent for Thomas & Friends across multiple merchandise categories - minus toys - which will be manufactured and marketed by Mattel itself.

Treehouse, the country’s leading pre-school channel is to be the new hub for the long-running Thomas & Friends series, which will be available across the network’s traditional and non-linear platforms, including Treehouse on Demand, Treehouse Classic and the Treehouse Go App,

“Thomas & Friends is one of the most iconic pre-school brands of all time and we are delighted to partner with Mattel and welcome it into the Corus family,” said Pam Westman, head of Nelvana Enterprises.

“With Thomas & Friends, we are on the right track to engaging pre-schoolers on our network and delivering the world’s favourite tank engine on multiple platforms across Canada.”

Tara George, country manager at Mattel Canada, added: “We could not pick a better broadcast and licensing partner for Thomas & Friends in Canada. The strength of Treehouse and Nelvana Enterprises in the Canadian preschool market is second to none.”

The series will feature three 22 minute specials and 20 11-minute regular episodes that will continue the themes of exploration and discovery, while adding new locations and friends from around the world.

The revamped show, which launched to consumers this September on Nick Jr. in the US, and on Channel 5, Milkshake! in the UK, has reported an increase in ratings of over 40 per cent amongst kids in the UK

More than 400 fans packed out Leicester Square’s to watch the celebrity turnout at Vue cinema where the 80 –minute CG animated special made its debut, before rolling out to 400 cinemas throughout the UK from July 20 this year.

The Copyrights Group is one of the licensing arms within The Vivendi Group. Acquired by Vivendi in 2016 Copyrights manages the licensing for a portfolio of properties to include Paddington Bear. Some of the other companies within the Vivendi Group include Universal Music Group, and their licensing arm Bravado, Gameloft and Studiocanal to name a few.